When Rule number twelve is broken
by pigeonz444
Summary: Years in the future, The David-Dinozzo family remember their past after rule twelve was broken through flashbacks and memories. Told in third person, mainly from Tony's point of view. Contains mild hints of violence.
1. Chapter 1

Today was definitely something special, Tony decided as he studied his granddaughter's pearly grey eyes. She looked a lot like her mother, he realised, noting her soft but knowing smile and the laughing twinkle in her eyes. Holding her now; the little girl they had fought so hard to bring home, it reminded him of a day a long time ago, in a crisp white hospital room just like this one

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Ziva's surprised gasp of pain sent shudders through Tony's body as he slammed a foot down on the pedal and swerved to avoid cars honking at him from all directions. Ziva would be so proud of his uncharacteristic reckless driving if she were a little more…well…not about to give birth to Tony's beautiful baby girl.

"TONY," Ziva half screamed, half sobbed at her fiancé, "YOU HAVE TO HURRY!"

Tony didn't really need the reminder- he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Ziva cry, and even then, it had never been like this. The hospital was just around the corner and…there. He barely remembered to switch of the engine as he helped Ziva into the wheelchair that was already waiting.

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Several hours, a pale faced Ziva stared in fear up at Tony, who was now massaging his hand with a wince. Neither of them knew where their beautiful new daughter had gone. Almost as soon as she'd been born, the doctors had rushed her away because she wasn't crying.

A still very hormonal Ziva had cryed non stop for the first hour of waiting, but had thankfully calmed down enough now to apologize for Tony's hand. He'd laughed at that- he wasn't really bothered about his hand.

After that, they'd sat apprehensively in a mutual silence. Gibbs had come by with some coffee for Tony and a warning to them both that Abby and Tim were on their way and that Abby was particularly hormonal at the moment. The laughter that had followed was a welcome relief for the terrified parents. None of them had imagined that Abby could get any crazier until she had announced that she was pregnant at the New Year's party just over four months ago. She and Tim had gotten married a month later, since Abby wanted to get married before she was too big.

Tony wasn't really looking at his hand. He realised it must look as though he'd been staring at it for the past hour, but he'd just been deep in thought. If their baby died, or there was something seriously wrong with her, he wasn't sure how they would cope. Ziva would insist she was fine, but he knew her well enough now that he knew she wouldn't be. She'd probably push him away and try to cope on her own. Their own relationship would probably deteriorate, and he was terrified that one of them might end up leaving. He never wanted that to happen.

Tony was shaken from his worried thoughts by a stressed looking Abby. Her familiar pigtails had obviously been done in a rush and were lopsided with strands of hair all over the place. Her makeup was a mess and Tony doubted if she had even bothered to get dressed since her clothes looked suspiciously like pyjamas. Tim, who stood just behind her, didn't look much better. His hair was a mess and he had dressed in a rush. Both looked as though they had just climbed out of bed and Tony had his own suspicions about what they had been up to.

"Ziva! OMG-OMG! Gibbs just called us! He said you had the baby? Can we see her? Oh-God! Is she ok? Where is she?" Abby babbled, her face so earnest and full of distress for her beloved friends that Tony was scared he might start crying. He barely managed to quietly explain that they had taken her to do some tests before Abby's mouth fell open and she stormed out, muttering something under her breath about killing the mean doctor who was responsible. Tim stared in shock after his pregnant wife before realising that Tony and Ziva were watching him.

"Um…I should…probably…Abby…make sure she doesn't…kill…um…Congrats guys!" Tim managed as he flashed a grin at the pair who had visibly relaxed and were now laughing easily, and ran out after Abby.

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Moments later, Tim and Abby returned with Doctor Holst. To their delight and surprise, he was holding their baby girl.

"I'm very sorry for the lack of communication, Mr Dinozzo and Miss David, however when a baby doesn't immediately start crying after birth, it can mean an underdevelopment of the lungs. I'm sure you can understand that this is a potentially life-threating risk, hence why we rushed her away so quickly, however, I am pleased to inform you that your daughter's vitals are excellent. We will need to keep her in observation for a few days, but you should be able to bring her home b the end of the week" The doctor informed them, passing the still silent infant over to Ziva, who looked as though she wasn't sure whether to punch this man for scaring her so much or hug him for safely returning her daughter. Thankfully she chose to do neither.

A short while later, Gibbs, Jenny, Abby, Tim, Palmer and Ducky all stood around the small but contented family. Although they had known for a while that Ziva was expecting a girl, the couple had refused to give away any details and everyone, especially Abby, was desperate to know what the previous child was called.

"You know," Tony began, winking mischievously at Ziva," we could just wait until she comes home..." He winced at the much anticipated Gibbs slap that followed.

" Guys, we'd like you to meet Thalia Anthea David-Dinozzo." Ziva announced to the team, gazing adoringly at her new baby.

Abby immediately cooed and began talking quietly to the sleepy infant whilst Ducky politely asked about the meaning behind her sweet name.

" Tali was the name of Ziva's sister," Tony was quick to explain, "and Anthea is meant to be symbolic of the Dinozzo tradition that the first born boy should be called Anthony"

Ducky smiled." Welcome to to the family, Tali Anthea David-Dinozzo"


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING: brief mention of some Jewish traditions. I hope it doesn't offend anyone. I tried to keep it as brief as possible, but I'll be honest- I don't really know what I'm talking about. It just wrote itself. I have tried to do some research but if it isn't accurate, or there is something really offensive, please tell me in the reviews and I'll change it!**

* * *

Ziva was 2 hours late for work. She had had to abandon the car and walk since it had snowed heavily the previous evening. To make matters worse, she had been forced to take Tali with her since the pre-school was closed because of the bad weather. The four year old skipped excitedly beside her mother, chatting about seeing aunty Abby and Grandpa Gibbs and her cousin Kennedy. Ziva had laughed at that. Abby's daughter, Kennedy Rose McGee, was only five months younger than Tala, and the two had become best friends immediately. Kennedy took after her dad- she was very quiet and rarely spoke, preferring to use sign language or make eye contact to get her point across. Thalia and Kennedy delighted in talking in sign language, since neither Ziva nor Tony used it, except perhaps a few key words and names.

Tali was a good mix of her parents. She had Tony's impeccable sense of humour, particularly when it came to pranks, and Ziva's skill with weaponry. She had started karate last year and was already by far the best in her year. Unlike either parent, Tali was incredibly trusting. She would talk to strangers without a second thought and was perfectly happy to stay in the company of someone she had just met for hours on end. This had resulted in the little girl almost being kidnapped six times in her short lifetime, but despite everything, Ziva took comfort in her daughter's trusting nature. When she had first had Tali, she had panicked that her daughter would turn out just like her, or even Ari. She pictured her baby all grown up, ruthlessly shooting without a second thought.

"Ima," The little girl interrupted Ziva's thoughts, "Do you haf' my headphones? Kenn'dy's asleep and I want tah list-en to music please!"

Ziva smiled and handed Tali the set of headphones and the iPod she carried everywhere. Whilst most children could be pacified with a toy or sweets, Thalia wouldn't go anywhere without her music. Although Ziva refused to let Tali start piano lessons until she turned five, the youngster had already begun to show her musical genius. She listened to music anywhere, and was always humming a tune or tapping a rhythm out on the table. Almost every night, Tony or Ziva would sing her lullabies until she fell asleep; the little girl preferring to hear music over any story. She had discovered Tony's baby grand piano that lived in the spare bedroom at the age of two and had taught herself basic melodies that she heard on the radio or that her parents sang to her. She had a beautiful voice. Ziva could listen to her daughter sing for hours.

* * *

"C'mon Kenn'dy! I'm hungree, and Aba's in M'TAC so we haf tah find ima!" Tali explained patiently to her friend. The younger girl rubbed her eyes sleepily and stared blearily after her excitable 'cousin'. After a long discussion about what relation the girls would have to each other, they had settled on one of cousins. It made sense seeing as Tali already called Abby 'Aunt Abby' and Kennedy referred to Ziva as her 'Aunty Ziva', although neither child had ever mentioned the fact that they were cousins. Tali had picked up very quickly that she was not actually related to Gibbs, Abby, Tim, Jimmy, Ducky, Jenny or Kennedy and had made it clear that the titles were simply because she didn't have any living aunts, uncles or grandparents, since Tony's father had passed away soon after she was born.

Although it was strictly forbidden to the girls, Tali and Kennedy had snuck into Abby's lab a hundred times. They had followed Gibbs, who knew over a thousand different shortcuts and secret hiding places that he used to sneak up on his team and find out information they hadn't wanted him to overhear, so it was easy to slip down the stairs and choose a spot.

' _They're talking about us_ ' Kennedy signed, looking worried. Tali nodded.

 _Listen!_ She signed back as they turned back to where Ziva and Abby where having a whispered conversation.

"Have to tell her…too big…she'll notice…new baby…" Ziva was saying, glancing nervously down at her stomach.

Kennedy and Tali exchanged confused glances. Ziva kept turning away so they couldn't lip read all that she was saying and Abby's music meant that many of the words were lost in the wall of sound. Thankfully Abby was facing them, so they could tell what she was saying. She wasn't so good at whispering anyway.

"I'm worried that Kennedy will stop talking altogether with a new…" Tali cringed as a new song started which was even louder and Abby's last words were lost. At that moment hands grabbed them and pulled them out from underneath the table where they had hidden.

"Ima!" Tali squealed as she dared to peer out at the woman holding her and laughing. Ziva smiled and hoisted her daughter onto her hip. She would have to reinforce the rule about Abby's lab, but now wasn't the time.

"Would you like to be a big sister, Tatelah?" She asked the little girl in Hebrew. Tali thought about it for a moment and then nodded, not really understanding the question. Ziva smiled and tried to explain, using English this time,

"Aunt Abby and I are going to have a baby." Kennedy looked up from where she was snuggled into Abby's chest in confusion. She began hastily signing to her mother, a small frown on her face.

 _You and Ziva are having a baby together?_

Abby laughed out loud and passed the message onto Ziva who laughed too.

 _No! Mummy is having one baby with your daddy, and Aunty Ziva is having another baby with Uncle Tony_ Abby signed back, saying the words out loud for Ziva's benefit. Thalia grinned.

"I'm gonna be the bestest big sister mummy!" She boasted.

* * *

 _Do you want a brother or a sister?_ Kennedy signed to Tali, who shrugged. They had crawled under Ziva's desk to play, since the entire team were out following a lead.

 _I want a brother_ she decided eventually. _You're like my sister-cousin-best friend person! If I had a sister, I'd have to share you. How do we ask for that?_

 _Me too! Mummy gives me what I ask for if I ask nicely enough_ Kennedy suggested.

 _Who do we ask?_ Tali responded. Kennedy shrugged. The girls thought for a moment, before Tali had an idea.

 _Daddy says that when mummy was scared I might die, she asked HaShem to protect me. We could pray to him?_

The young girls closed their eyes, scrunching their faces up as they both thought the same words over and over again-

 _Please give me a little brother. I would love him with all my heart._

* * *

Thalia looked up from her daughter, fast asleep in her arms, and gazed at her husband who lay beside her on the bed.

"I'm glad Kennedy asked for a brother, James. I don't think I could imagine a world without you in it." She told him as they lay together- mother, father and daughter. Together at last.


	3. Chapter 3

**NOTE: I have had a few people question me about Thalia/Tali's name. I originally believed that 'Tali' was simply the shortened version of 'Thalia' but having done some further research, I have discovered that this is incorrect! I apologize for any confusion.**

Tali smiled, listening for the tell-tale signs of where her brother and James were hiding. She could hear them giggling from somewhere behind her, although she wasn't entirely sure where. It was surprisingly easy to play hide and seek with two five year old boys, especially when the boys in question seemed to find it very difficult to be quiet. The giggling stopped. The giggling suddenly got quieter and Tali frowned. Apparently they were getting better at this game. Beside her, Kennedy had almost reached 40.

"Coming! Ready or not!" They called out, removing their hands and scanning the bullpen for a hand or foot that would give away where the boys were hiding. There weren't any obvious signs, however, and Tali realised that the giggling had stopped altogether. She wasn't worried though- they all knew the rules about only playing in the Bullpen or the break room.

It took five minutes for Kennedy and Tali to search the entire room. They had practically grown up here and had memorised every nook and cranny, to the point that they had to actually pretend to search for the boys, since it was always far too easy to find them. Today, however, neither boy had made an appearance. Tali bit her lip. It had never been this hard to find the two younger children and Tali had no idea where they could have gone, which worried her. It was unlikely, she told herself, that two five year old boys would have been allowed to just leave the building, although the receptionist on duty was not 100% reliable, which limited their options slightly, but not by much.

She glanced over to Kennedy, who had a slightly queasy expression on her face. She got it when she knew she was going to get into trouble, although as far as Tali knew, she had never actually thrown up.

"Let's check the break room" Tali suggested. She doubted they were in there since there was nowhere to hide but it was worth checking.

Several minutes later and the girls sat in the break room, trying to think of the one place they might be that they'd forgotten to check. There wasn't one.

"We have to tell the adults" Kennedy pointed out finally. Tali just nodded, feeling her mouth go dry and her stomach tighten. She could still remember the exact words that she had said to her mother before they'd left to follow that lead…

 _Yes Ima…ken…I can look after them…we'll be fine ima…_

Except that they weren't fine, and apparently Tali couldn't even look after her own brother and James for just two hours. Tali sighed. Her mother was going to kill her

It didn't take long before Ziva and Abby entered full blown panicked mother mode; with Ziva switching between scolding Tali in angry fast-paced Hebrew to asking anybody who would listen if they had seen two young boys walk past, and Abby talking very quickly and bashing herself for leaving her son with an eight year old and nine year old girl. It had taken a long time before someone pointed out that no one had checked Abby's lab, and Ziva and Abby had both gone down to investigate.

Tali sat at her mother's desk in a terrified silence, watching her father pace up and down the bullpen. Every time something moved he would jump and whirl around to face whatever it was, as if it would be the boys come back from the toilet. McGee was sat at his desk, but Tali knew he wasn't working. He looked just as agitated as Tony, his hands hovering over the keyboard as if he meant to type something but couldn't find the words. Tali supposed that it was a good thing their lead had been useless and all they could do was look over old evidence and hope their BOLO brought in some results, otherwise Gibbs would have been on their case. The older man didn't look particularly happy either though. He kept biting his lip, something Tali had never seen him do, and his precious coffee had long since gone cold without him ever having taken a single sip.

Tali bit her tongue and tried to stop the tears that threatened to tumble down her face. She hadn't meant to lose James and her brother. They weren't supposed to leave. It had just been a game. Tali vowed that she would never play that game again- not unless every viable escape route was locked and they had at least ten adults monitoring their every move. A single tear trickled down her cheek and she wiped it away, hoping no one had noticed her moment of weakness.

Ziva heard the laughter almost as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs and she immediately released a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding. Beside her Abby did the same. As they approached the door, Ziva realised something and stole back the breath she had released, her stomach tightening in fear. She had no idea what kind of dangerous chemicals might be easily accessible to the boys in the lab. For all she knew, they could be playing with a deadly poison. She looked through the window and bit back a cry.

Her son and James were sat on the floor in the centre of the room watching as a white substance trickled through their fingers and onto the floor.

"What is it?" Ziva managed to ask

"Sodium chloride" Abby responded. She remembered spilling it on the floor before she had come upstairs to talk to the Director. Ziva turned to Abby, her eyes filled with an unimaginable anguish that Abby had never expected to see in the former assassin. She would have laughed if she hadn't felt the exact same thing just moments earlier

"Sodium chloride is table salt, Ziva. They are fine" She clarified opening the door and stepping inside. Ziva stared after her in shock for a moment before following her.

She immediately launched into a torrent of Hebrew at her son, only switching to English when she remembered that unlike his sister, her son was not fluent in Hebrew and often struggled to follow along.

"Todd Shepherd David-Dinozzo. We have told you a hundred times that you are not to come down here unsupervised. There could be toxic chemicals that could make you sick, or kill you. We have tried to keep you safe and you have disobeyed us yet again, so from now on, whenever you are at NCIS, at least for now, you are not to go anywhere without telling an adult, is that clear? Not even the toilet." She ranted. Todd stared up at her with the large grey-blue eyes he had inherited from his father and nodded slowly, his bottom lip wobbling.

"Same goes to you, James" Abby clarified. James just nodded. He had expected that.

"I-ima…" Todd suddenly managed to stutter, "M-me ad James ditn-t know we were being w-wrong…we fought Aunty Abby was down here and w-we wanted to make sploshions…" The little boy promptly burst into tears and snuggled into his mother's welcoming arms with a small sob.

"He's obsessed with Abby's lab" Ziva commented as they watched Tali and Todd play quietly together in the living room. They were laughing easily, and any signs of the upset little oy from an hour earlier had vanished

"And science in general" Tony agreed. Once Todd had calmed down enough, he had eagerly asked Abby what they had been playing with, and when she had given him both names, he had made her explain why there were two. Abby had talked for ages, perfectly distracting the five year old from his earlier wobble. They smiled; apparently they had a little scientist on their hands.

 **If you would like to see a particular flashback, such as pregnancy announcements or how they first fell in love/admitted their feelings, then please tell me! I have a vague plan, and will tell you now that this is not the entire David-Dinozzo family, so there is a lot more to write, but am happy to take suggestions and fit them in somehow!**


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